IDPs
Information for Faculty
Individual Development Plans (IDPs) are tools to facilitate the intentional, intrinsically motivated career growth of postdocs. The onus is on the postdoc to initiate, schedule, lead, and follow up on IDP-related career conversations.
According to this NIH guide, faculty mentors should be expected to:
- Be approachable, available, and willing to share knowledge and experiences
- Share expectations clearly
- Listen effectively
- Respect confidentiality
- Provide encouragement and constructive criticism – offer ways to improve weaknesses
- Work with mentees to set long-term and short-term career goals and a timeline to achieve them
- Share their network – introduce mentees to individuals who can help
- Encourage interactions with others in the field both intra- and extramurally
- Encourage attendance at professional meetings to network and present research
- Commit to being a supportive colleagues as mentees transition to the next stage of their careers and throughout their professional lives
- Encourage mentees to attend career and professional development programs
- Recognize that there are multiple career options and provide assistance in exploring them
The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs recommends:
- A consistently positive emotional tone
- Demonstration of compassion
- Conveying a sense of hope
- Encouragement of experimentation
Career support is inherently other-centric, so the success factors that worked for the faculty mentor may not be replicable for the postdoc.
See here for a Penn State IDP and other examples:
- Penn State’s Office of Postdoctoral Affairs IDP
- Free IDP tool for postdocs in Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science)
- Free Public Health and Social Sciences IDP (PHaSS-IDP)
- Free IDP tool for postdocs in Chemistry (American Chemical Society)
- Free IDP tool for postdocs in the Humanities and Social Sciences (Graduate Career Consortium)
The Eberly College of Science has its own system for facilitating the IDP process.
Articles for faculty review and reflection on IDPs: